Parties to a case have a duty to make full and frank disclosure of all information relevant to the issues in dispute in a timely manner. This duty starts at the pre-action procedure stage before the case commences and continues until the case is finalised [See Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) r 6.01].

Any documents that have been disclosed can only be used for the purpose of resolving the dispute for which they were disclosed [r 6.04].

Parties to a case should, as soon as practicable on learning of the dispute, exchange a schedule of assets, income and liabilities; a list of documents in their possession relevant to the dispute; and a copy of any document required by the other party. Schedule 1 of the rules lists the types of documents it is appropriate to disclose.

The list includes recent tax returns and assessments, superannuation information, relevant business statements and market valuations (if they are necessary).

Rule 6.06 also gives a guide to the sorts of documents and information to disclose. Rule 6.15 indicates the documents a party does not have to disclose.